Ecuador's president has acknowledged the diplomatic and political minefield created by Julian Assange's application for asylum, and indicated that a decision on the WikiLeaks founder's appeal is likely to take longer than first thought.

Speaking to reporters in Quito, Rafael Correa said: "We are going to have to discuss with and seek the opinions of other countries. We don't wish to offend anyone, least of all a country we hold in such deep regard as the United Kingdom."

Once a decision is made, Correa said, "we can talk about safe passage and such things".The WikiLeaks founder requested asylum at the country's embassy in London on Tuesday, citing the UN declaration on human rights. He is on bail after losing the last of his appeals against extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual offences, but insists such a move could place him at greater risk of possible future prosecution by the United States over the WikiLeaks cable releases in 2010.

Ecuador's deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, said on Wednesday that the country would make a decision within 24 hours, but Correa said: "He [Assange] presented his reasons. We are going to verify them. We will take the time necessary. Ecuador is a country which defends the right to life. We have to see whether there is a threat to Julian Assange's life."

The president's comments are an acknowledgement of the scale of the problem with which lawyers, diplomats and government officials are grappling. While discussions between the country's ambassador, Ana Alban Mora, and Foreign Office officials on Wednesday were described as "cordial and constructive", British government sources have stressed that Assange, who is now in breach of his bail conditions, will be liable for immediate arrest should he step out of the front door of the embassy; they know of no such protocols for negotiating "safe passage".

It has raised the prospect of a lengthy stay at the embassy for the Australian if he is offered asylum. Assange may for now have escaped a prison cell in Sweden (where, though he has not been charged, he can expect to be held on remand while under investigation over the alleged sex assaults), but for the time being, his home is a small office with makeshift sleeping facilities.

Ecuador's embassy consists only of the ambassador's office and a handful of other small rooms, according to those familiar with the layout. The WikiLeaks founder has supplied an approved list of associates who can visit him, according to the embassy; asked about his access to showers and food, a spokeswoman said: "We have everything for him here." He is still wearing his electronic ankle tag.

"He will stay until this matter is settled," said Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks's spokesman, downplaying suggestions of an imminent judgment. "I don't get the feeling that they [embassy staff] are in a hurry to get rid of him," said Assange's Swedish lawyer, Per E Samuelsson. "He's welcome there." Both men have visited Assange, along with the journalist John Pilger and others.

In his interview on Thursday Assange told the Australian broadcaster ABC that he had sought asylum in London, rather than fighting any possible future extradition bid by the US from Sweden, because his remand status there would mean "my ability to exercise an asylum right would be at an end". No such application has been made or indicated by the US to date.

He accused the Crown Prosecution Service of "trying to cancel" the period of 14 days he understood he was entitled to, after the 28 June deadline for his extradition under British law, in which to appeal to the European court of human rights. The CPS, which has acted on behalf of the Swedish prosecutor in the extradition proceedings, denied this.

Vaughan Smith, Assange's former host and one of the suretors of his £240,000 bail payment, said even given the threat of arrest, there could be a way forward, with sufficient political pressure: "I believe that if he was to get political asylum there's a way out. We have to accept that we would then have a dissident. Assange is a western dissident."